iPods: Safer, More Conspicuous Steroids

This morning, I participated in a 5.85 mile run in and around my town's beach. It went well. I don't feel like puking/passing out right now, which is always a good thing. However, my time could possibly have been better if I had an accessory common on the biceps, hips, or hands of many runners--an iPod.

When I was driving to the beach, I blasted "Umbrella" by Rihanna on my radio. For much of the first half of the race, I still had the song stuck in my head, and it pushed me on through the pain. But what if I was actually hearing the song while racing? I have little doubt the extra motivation would have bettered my time.

Earlier in the summer, I listed my favorite pump-up songs of all time. For me, since I don't have an iPod, pump-up songs come before the action. Before a race I blast my radio. Before a soccer game my computer speakers are pumping. Yet during the race or game itself, I am sans music.

Sure, music won't make my legs stronger or my heart calmer, but it would give me a mental advantage. If I had Eminem blasting down the final stretch, who knows, I could have pushed myself that much harder and gotten ahead of the little woman in front of me I so desperately wanted to beat.

The race I participated in has yet to institute random drug tests or universal urine testing. I doubt anyone would go the anabolic steroids route to win my local race. However, it isn't too hard to tell who is listening to an iPod.

I say the organizers of the race either blast music for the entirety of the course or no one gets an iPod.